VIZ’s Davey Jones in the publicity spotlight (even if he doesn’t want to be)

By John Freeman on June 17, 2018

I’ve known ace VIZ cartoonist Davey Jones since the 1980s, back when he contributed some of his amazing early strips to a fanzine I published (a chaotic assemblage with inconsistent numbering and format sizes, including one edition that literally, physically stank on first printing, called SCAN).

Despite trying to persuade him on stage at various conventions he’s preferred to lurk in the shadows and drink beer, but over the past month he’s decloaked himself, interviewed for the Rule of Three podcast (available on iTunes here)

Davey happily talks about Leo Baxendale, “Willy The Kid”, Bash Street and all that. He even reveals the Robert McKee-esque technical secrets behind writing “The Vibrating Bum-Faced Goats“.

When they’re not busy being bestselling Ladybird Book authors and writing for TV and radio (Mitchell and Webb, Screenwipe and Philomena Cunk, amongst other things) Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley host a weekly podcast about comedy called Rule of Three.

It’s a great listen, and you can find out more about it and where to listen here on the Rule of Three blog).

Not content with this appearance, he’s also done a Q&A interview about his “Real Ale Twats” cartoon on the Boak and Bailey Beer Blog.

Honestly, is there no stopping him?

Perhaps if we put him behind a curtain and have Graham Drury draw how he looks on a projector display, we’ll see him at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival yet…

Davey tells the Boak and Bailey Beer Blog he’s recently discovered there’s a Real Ale Twats group on Facebook, which has thousands of members.

“Which felt strange,” he says. “I don’t suppose they’re all familiar with the VIZ cartoon, but if they’re happy to laugh at themselves that’s probably a good thing. I think.”

• You can read “The Real Ale Twats” in VIZ on an irregular basis, in the Christmas annuals, and there is a sample on the official website

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.